Across Italy · No.79 / 103
Spaghetti alla Bottarga
Spaghetti alla Bottarga
Spaghetti tossed in olive oil scented with garlic and parsley, then layered with bottarga and lemon zest.
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Meet the dish
A pasta built around mullet bottarga, especially prized in Sardinia
This Sardinian preparation keeps the ingredient list short so mullet bottarga stays central. Garlic and a parsley stem perfume the olive oil, pasta water binds it to the noodles, and bottarga is used both grated through the pasta and shaved over the plate.
Pasta shapes to use
- spaghetti
- linguine
Key ingredients
- bottarga
- garlic
- parsley
- lemon zest
- olive oil
Follow the cooking scenes
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Step 1: Make the aromatic oil
Warm garlic and a parsley stem in olive oil for a few minutes, then remove both.
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Step 2: Boil the pasta
Cook spaghetti in salted water until al dente and reserve a ladle of the cooking water.
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Step 3: Bind oil and pasta water
Transfer the pasta to the aromatic oil and toss with enough cooking water to coat every strand.
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Step 4: Layer the bottarga
Grate in plenty of bottarga, then finish each plate with thin bottarga shavings, lemon zest and optional chopped parsley.
What to watch for
- Use a whole piece of mullet bottarga and grate it just before serving for more aroma than pre-grated bottarga.
- Season the pasta water and final dish cautiously because bottarga adds concentrated salinity.
What sets it apart
Unlike a mixed seafood pasta with anchovies or shellfish, this dish uses an olive-oil emulsion to keep bottarga's salinity and cured aroma at the center.
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